Researchers at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital have used parasitic hookworms in a novel study into the treatment of coeliac disease.

The research involved infecting half of the participants with live human hookworms via the forearm. The parasites burrowed into participants' skin and entered the bloodstream. They then travelled via the lungs to the gut where they colonised. The twenty participants were recruited for the trial through the Coeliac Society of Australia.

All of the patients in the trial were fed standard white bread for 21 weeks, and were examined for a reaction. Those patients with the parasitic gut worm were reported to have fared dramatically better to gluten exposure than those without worms. This was assessed by lower levels of inflammation and damage of the intestinal wall.

At the end of the trial, the participants who were infected with the worms were offered medication to rid themselves of the parasites, but all chose to keep their worms. The researchers will shortly be commencing the next phase of this trial and say until more work is done those with coeliac disease should adhere to a gluten free diet.

The study findings were presented to the Australian Gastroenterology Week conference, held in Sydney in October.